CARTWRIGHT, HATTER HEADED TO WRESTLING SEMI-STATE

EAST CHICAGO, IN. – The 80th Annual IHSAA state wrestling tournament moves to the semi-state round Saturday Feb. 10 at East Chicago Central High School.

LaVille had two wrestler’s advance from the top four at the Penn Regional on Saturday Feb 3. Juniors Anthony Hatter, in the 220 pound weight class, and Alex Cartwright out of the 285 division.

In the regional round, LaVille’s Matthew Hominiuk (106), Dawson Leed (126), and Nick Felke (138) all lost their first round matches. Hominiuk finished the season with a 3-9 record. Leed concluded his season at 23-4 overall, and Felke closed out with a 24-3 mark.

In Saturday’s East Chicago Central Semi-State, the competition level gets raised to another level.

“Its Semi-state time!,” said LaVille coach Sean Webb. “One step away from wrestling in Indianapolis on the biggest stage in Indiana. It’s always special to represent your school in tournaments as big and competitive in state tournaments. It’s what you remember, knowing all of your hard work you have done on the mat is leading up to this point.”

Anthony Hatter will face Kevin Mochen of Chesterton High School in his first round. Hatter could then meet up with either Chester Swopes (Portage) or Joey Kidwell (West Lafayette). If he wins those two matches he will move on to State.

Hatter enters the semi-state with a 25-3 overall record and understands this is a strong field.

“We are down to the best of the best,” said Hatter. “It’s nice to see that all the hard work we have put in is paying off. I’m excited to get another chance to wrestle next week.”

Alex Cartwright tangles with Myles Mitchell of Hammond Morton High School in the first round. A victory there and Cartwright could face either Eli Pokorney (Chesterton) or Jason Foster (Benton Central) in the second round to wrestle at the State Finals.

Cartwright comes in with a 27-1 overall mark and is excited about returning to the semi-state level.

“It is an honor to represent LaVille for two years in a row,” said Cartwright. “Hopefully this year we can go somewhere with our opportunity.”

Coach Webb knows that the side of the bracket Cartwright is on will be tough.

“Whenever you are in the same bracket with the number two and fifth ranked wrestlers in the state, it is a tough road ahead,” explained Webb. “They both have been working hard and focus getting to the State Finals as Juniors.”

Each wrestler must win their first two semi-state matches to advance to the state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Feb. 16 and 17.

WEATHER STATEMENT FROM THE IHSAA REGARDING ADJUSTED START TIME

IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Robert Faulkens has helped East Chicago Central High School to restructure the schedule giving teams and fans more time to arrive, as well as giving the plows a few more hours to clean the roads.

The NEW East Chicago Central Wrestling Semi-State schedule is as follows:

ALL TIME ARE Eastern Standard Time (EST):

9:00am (Eastern)– Doors open for wrestlers/coaches (Please enter through Door A as instructed before)